In an international society, we encounter works in translation but we seldom consider the effort the translator has made to create or re-create the text. Erica Fultz '08 (Carlisle, Pa.), however, has acquired first-hand experience of rendering a text. Working with Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures Kyoko Omori, Fultz has an Emerson grant to spend her summer translating a Japanese short story into English.
The story she has chosen to translate is "Slam Poetry" by Yoko Tawada, a contemporary writer who works in Japanese and German. It's not a story English speakers will know -- Japanese authors are only beginning to break into mainstream English literature and there is a great deal of writing which goes untranslated. But maybe not for long: at least one translator, Fultz, hopes to produce a publishable piece of writing by the end of her summer.
"A translation is by no means a literary clone; the very process of translation is governed by rules not universal to the translation community but rather unique to each translator," Fultz explained. She augments her translation efforts with an extensive reading list which covers many of the recognized authorities on translation; "the various theories I've encountered so far really do range from the traditional to the absolutely bizarre," she joked.
It isn't just looking up words in a dictionary. For Fultz, who has done previous research into Japanese linguistics, the theory of translation is as important as the act of translating, and the extra reading is essential. "I would like to create my own theory [of translation] and apply it to my own translation of Tawada's story," Fultz concluded.
This is Fultz's third summer of research; she has previously worked on generative linguistics in Japanese on Freeman and Emerson grants. Why the switch to translation? "I realized that my true love for languages lies down another route," Fultz said, and added that she liked the subjectivity of translation. The impetus came from spending her spring semester in Kyoto where she spent time with a multi-lingual group of friends and compared many impromptu translations. A given translation "would almost always be different than how I would translate, yet neither my version nor the other person's could be said to be incorrect! I found that absolutely fascinating."
Japanese is a notoriously difficult language and Fultz, who has only studied it for three years, said that the most challenging part of her summer is the actual translation. She added, however, that "as I see [translation] as more of a progression of my skill in the language, it's also my favorite part."
Fultz, a foreign languages major with a concentration in Spanish and Japanese, plans to continue her work with languages after graduation, ideally as a translator or teacher of English in Japan. Asked to translate her favorite word in Japanese for the Hamilton community, Fultz offered "ganbatte," a word which means "go for it" or "do your best."
Fultz's research this summer is funded by the Emerson Foundation Grant Program, which provides students with significant opportunities to work collaboratively with faculty mentors, researching an area of mutual interest. Recipients typically undertake some combination of fieldwork, laboratory investigation, library research and the development of teaching materials. A public presentation of their findings is required of all Emerson Scholars during the academic year.
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
The story she has chosen to translate is "Slam Poetry" by Yoko Tawada, a contemporary writer who works in Japanese and German. It's not a story English speakers will know -- Japanese authors are only beginning to break into mainstream English literature and there is a great deal of writing which goes untranslated. But maybe not for long: at least one translator, Fultz, hopes to produce a publishable piece of writing by the end of her summer.
"A translation is by no means a literary clone; the very process of translation is governed by rules not universal to the translation community but rather unique to each translator," Fultz explained. She augments her translation efforts with an extensive reading list which covers many of the recognized authorities on translation; "the various theories I've encountered so far really do range from the traditional to the absolutely bizarre," she joked.
It isn't just looking up words in a dictionary. For Fultz, who has done previous research into Japanese linguistics, the theory of translation is as important as the act of translating, and the extra reading is essential. "I would like to create my own theory [of translation] and apply it to my own translation of Tawada's story," Fultz concluded.
This is Fultz's third summer of research; she has previously worked on generative linguistics in Japanese on Freeman and Emerson grants. Why the switch to translation? "I realized that my true love for languages lies down another route," Fultz said, and added that she liked the subjectivity of translation. The impetus came from spending her spring semester in Kyoto where she spent time with a multi-lingual group of friends and compared many impromptu translations. A given translation "would almost always be different than how I would translate, yet neither my version nor the other person's could be said to be incorrect! I found that absolutely fascinating."
Japanese is a notoriously difficult language and Fultz, who has only studied it for three years, said that the most challenging part of her summer is the actual translation. She added, however, that "as I see [translation] as more of a progression of my skill in the language, it's also my favorite part."
Fultz, a foreign languages major with a concentration in Spanish and Japanese, plans to continue her work with languages after graduation, ideally as a translator or teacher of English in Japan. Asked to translate her favorite word in Japanese for the Hamilton community, Fultz offered "ganbatte," a word which means "go for it" or "do your best."
Fultz's research this summer is funded by the Emerson Foundation Grant Program, which provides students with significant opportunities to work collaboratively with faculty mentors, researching an area of mutual interest. Recipients typically undertake some combination of fieldwork, laboratory investigation, library research and the development of teaching materials. A public presentation of their findings is required of all Emerson Scholars during the academic year.
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
